moving on
by blames the sky
Summary: Mike and Sam meet up on the anniversary of the events at the lodge and discuss both the past and the present. Mike/Sam friendship, hints of more if you squint. Good ending.


I've found myself terribly, hopelessly obsessed with the story and characters of _Until Dawn,_ so here I am. Mike and Sam always seemed the best equipped to deal with the events at the lodge, and I'd imagine that they would have gravitated toward each other after everything that happened. So this is my take on them three years later.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or any other part of _Until Dawn_.

* * *

Sam got out of her car, caught almost immediately by a gust of wind that sent snow into her face. "Oh, come on," she groaned, locking the door and heading quickly into the shelter of the bar, wiping her face off when she got in the door. She hadn't had to park far; not many people had wanted to brave the cold apparently. She didn't blame them.

While it wasn't too crowded, the bar did have a few people inside, their talking and laughter a pleasant buzz in the back of her head as she moved further in. She looked around, spotting Mike when he waved, and headed over to the table he'd gotten for them.

"Hey. I was getting worried, thought I was gonna have to come rescue you from a ditch somewhere," he greeted with a grin when she neared, getting up and hugging her.

"Nah. I think someone else might've needed it, though," she responded, hugging him back. "I got stuck behind some traffic, everything was cleared up by the time I got past though. Were you waiting long?"

"Not really." He let go of her, sitting back down. "So, how have you been?"

"Busy, very busy. You?" she asked, shrugging off her coat and taking her seat across from him.

"Same. So, you and Aaron still a thing?"

"No...we broke up about two weeks ago."

"Ouch, sorry."

She smiled. He'd told her that he thought Aaron was a dick, but it was nice that he didn't feel the need to remind her. "Thanks. It's alright, though...it was in the works for a while there." She looked up when a girl came over with two beers. "Aww, you ordered for me?"

"What can I say? I know what you like," Mike said with a grin, glancing up at the girl. "Thanks."

Sam opened up her beer when the girl left, watching as Mike did the same. "Cheers."

"Three years later and we're still standing," he said, tapping his bottle against hers.

She nodded, taking a long drink of her beer. It was hard to believe, three years now since that night on the mountain, four since Hannah and Beth… "Did Chris and Ash send you a wedding invitation?"

"Yeah. Are you gonna go?"

"Mm-hmm. I actually agreed to be a bridesmaid."

"What, not the maid of honor?"

She chuckled, shaking her head. "No. Believe me, you don't want me planning anything related to a wedding. And I think Ash's sister is going to be the maid of honor anyway. So are you going?"

"Yeah, I think so. But only if you agree to be my plus one."

"What happened to Rebecca?"

He shook his head. "Broke it off a couple of days ago."

She nodded, and didn't press further. "I'm sorry."

"S'alright. And you didn't give me an answer," he said, looking at her expectantly.

"I think I can find it in myself to deal with you for a whole day."

"I'd hope so. You somehow find it in yourself to drink with me all night every year."

She laughed. "I'm not getting drunk at Ash's wedding. She'd kill me."

And then it hit her like it always did; a sudden crushing weight in her stomach, an ache in her throat. She was back in the basement, back to Ashley and Emily and Mike with a gun... Sure three years later they were still standing, but in moments like these, it didn't feel like it. Mike, thankfully, didn't call attention to her silence. He probably knew.

"Bridezillas," he said softly, offering her a smile and a rope back to the present.

She smiled back, taking a long drink and mentally shaking herself out of it. "Poor Chris."

He shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "So I offered to meet Emily this year; see how she's doing, you know? Mentioned where we were meeting."

"And?"

"She said she didn't want any part in our masochistic fantasy and hung up on me."

Sam couldn't help but laugh. "Masochistic fantasy?"

Mike laughed, nodding. "Yup, she said that. Fashion world has not made that girl any nicer, I can vouch for that."

"Yeah, I guess so...Still, what a line." She went to take a drink of her beer, finding that she'd finished it off already. She set the bottle aside. "What do you think? About what she said."

"Other than the fact that she was being kind of bitchy?"

"That's a given."

"Well-I dunno. Why, what're you thinking?"

She paused, but if there was one thing they had established after everything, it was that they should be honest with each other. There was no risk of hurt feelings between them, not after everything. "Well, she's kind of right, isn't she? We meet up every anniversary in some snowy bar..."

"I thought you liked doing it this way?"

"That's the thing, I do. Coming here like this, being able to talk about everything that happened and knowing I'm not going to get that awful shit about how hard it must have been or whatever...but then I look at how everyone else is dealing with it, and I can't help but wonder if we're reopening wounds by doing it this way, you know?"

Mike nodded, finishing off his own beer. "Do you think they're dealing with it?" he questioned, meeting her eyes. "Chris and Ash up and moved to Hawaii of all places, Emily doesn't have time to even talk to us, Jess is cordial at best, and Matt at least says hi sometimes, but that's it. Because I don't...I don't think that's them dealing with things, I think they're trying to put it behind them. What happened to us up there, they don't want to be reminded of it. They'd rather forget it ever happened. I don't fault them for it, but…"

"I don't want to forget," Sam said softly, wishing she had another beer in her. "There are things I wish I hadn't seen; hell, I wish that whole night didn't happen. But it did, we can't change that, and moving on like that feels so wrong-like what happened to Josh and Hannah and Beth didn't change anything, like..."

"Like they didn't exist?" Mike asked, and she thought that she saw his hand shift in her direction for a split second before he stood. "Damn, I need more beer."

"Yeah, me too," she said, reaching up to rub her face.

"I'll be right back."

She nodded, watching him head over to the bar to order the next round. The girl at the bar said something and he laughed, heading back after a moment with their beers.

"She said to make sure we didn't drink too fast. I told her she hasn't seen anything yet," he said as he sat, handing Sam her beer.

Sam smiled. "Remember that party after prom at the Washingtons' place? Josh had that whole contest on who could hold their liquor for the longest."

"Yeah, and at the end it was you and Beth drawing on the rest of us with sharpies? Don't worry, I remember. Parts, at least."

"See, you held out for a decent amount of time, though. For all Josh's talk, he was down like, first. Maybe second." She paused, opening her beer. "To Josh, Beth, and Hannah."

"I'll toast that," Mike said, tapping his bottle against hers before taking a large swig of beer. He was silent for a long moment after that, looking down at his beer. She wondered what he was thinking about, if he was back on that mountain like she had been. But then he looked up at her. "Wanna hear something fucked up?"

"I can handle fucked up."

He took another large drink. "Everything that happened that night...I'm the same as you. Wish it hadn't happened, wish there were things I didn't know. But I also can't help thinking that what I did up there...it mattered. We kept ourselves alive, we killed those things...if it weren't for me seeing that gas, for you staying in that lodge for so long while everyone got out...none of us would've gotten off that mountain, you know? Let alone you saving my ass in the sanatorium. And what have I done since then that's worth even a fraction of that? When will I ever be able to match that?"

She was silent for a long moment. "That is pretty fucked up," she agreed, taking a drink of her beer. "But I can see where you're coming from, so I guess that makes me fucked up, too, huh?"

He smiled. "As long as we can admit it, I guess. First step, right?"

"That's the spirit." She paused, trying to find something to say. She just settled for reaching across the table, squeezing his hand. "I think we're gonna be okay."

His smiled widened and he turned his hand in hers, squeezing back. "Yeah. I think so, too."


End file.
